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His mum and dad won't show up. He has no best man. And, he's
been forced to swap a magnificent castle setting for a local town
hall that his sovereign mother apparently thinks is too ``common''
and officials say will be open to anyone.

But in the words of one royal watcher, preparations for the
ceremony have become a ``catalogue of cockups''.

The palace maintains the monarch supports the union in the hope
that the rest of Britain will accept Parker Bowles eight years
after the death of Princess Diana.

``This is not a snub,'' a Buckingham Palace spokesman insisted
today.

`The Queen's prime concern is that the civil ceremony should be
as low key as possible, in line with the couple's wishes.''

``This should be the happiest day of Charles and Camilla's
lives,'' the Daily Mirror said. ``Instead it is turning
into a nightmare.''

``It has gone from a smooth operation to a fuss and now a
farce,'' constitutional expert David Starkey said.

Under the headline ``Royal Bombshell'', The Sun said it
would be the first time a British monarch has missed the wedding of
one of their children in 142 years.

``More humiliation for the prince,'' said a front page Daily
Mail headline above a piece that said the Queen's decision was
``shattering and unprecedented''.

While the monarch won't see Charles and Parker Bowles exchange
vows at the Guildhall, she will attend a blessing service afterward
by the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and then
host a reception there.

Charles, 56, and Parker Bowles, 57, are said to be ``happy''
about the Queen's decision.

They have known each other for more than 30 years, but can't get
hitched in a church because they are both divorcees.

Initial plans called for a civil ceremony to be held inside
Windsor Castle, one of the Queen's residences west of London, but
had to be scrapped because it has no licence to hold a civil
ceremony.

Since licensing the castle for a civil wedding would have also
made the royal castle ``regularly available'' for three years to
other British couples who want to marry there, the couple moved
down the road to the town hall.

Prince William and Prince Harry as well as Parker Bowles's
children from her prior marriage, Tom and Laura, are expected to
attend the Guildhall ceremony.

But the Queen finds the Guildhall too ``common'', according to a
close source quoted in The Sun.

``The one thing (Charles) wanted was to get this wedding over
and done with so that (Parker Bowles) would not be snubbed,'' royal
photographer Arthur Edwards said.

The pair seem to have announced their engagement prematurely on
February 10, in order to prevent it being exposed in a leak to a
British paper, but this has meant key preparations were left
undone.

``They had to get their act together pretty quickly,'' former
royal adviser Dickie Arbiter told Sky News. ``It seems they had not
done their homework properly.''

A first bungle came with Parker Bowles' future title.

To avoid comparison with Charles' first wife, the late Princess
Diana, Clarence House said, she would be known not as the Princess
of Wales but the Duchess of Cornwall, then as the Princess Consort
when he eventually becomes king.

But some have argued it will take new legislation, and not just
a title, to keep Parker Bowles from becoming queen automatically at
Charles' ascension to the throne.

Then came the move from Windsor to the Guildhall.

Now even the wedding guest list may have to be redrafted, since
Charles' reported 700 invitees will not fit in a hall that can only
hold 100 people.

His office also acknowledged the event would have to be open to
the public free of charge, letting in unwelcome commoners.

It also said Charles would break with tradition by having no
best man.
``It's not that sort of wedding,'' a palace spokesman said.

When he married Diana in 1981, Charles had his princely brothers
Andrew and Edward as his best men - known traditionally as ``royal
supporters''.

Meanwhile, questions over the fundamental legality of the
wedding between Britain's heir to the throne and his mistress
continue to dog the duo.

They have been encouraged by some parties to avoid the legal
tangles by getting married in Scotland.

Even the wedding party at Windsor Castle - to be paid for by the
Queen - is apparently sparking animated discussion between royal
mother and son.AFP/AAP